Prologue

Jonas Hale, Roxxon's Oil and Gas operations chief, surveyed the sparse Japanese
countryside, disinterested in the panoramic view. Instead his eyes settled on
the scene before him. While he disliked field work, he did whatever his boss,
Hugh Jones, ordered. And when the owner of Roxxon said, "Go to the middle
of nowhere and make sure this item gets to me," one hung up the phone,
jumped in their limousine, and arranged for their corporate jet to take them
to the middle of nowhere, if they liked their high-paying job.

At least Jonas liked what he saw. They were slightly ahead of schedule, a good
thing considering what had happened to the previous similar operations. And
a part of him was glad at being present. If this item worked the way some of
the people in R&D thought it would, he might need to transfer over to the
New Energy Division, and being personally involved in securing the artifact
would earn him plenty of brownie points. There was nothing like being at ground
zero when a new event was on the horizon to boost one's career.

The local head of operations for Roxxon, Yoshihiro Kimura, walked over to
Jonas. "It's secure, sir," he said in impeccable English.

"Seal the door and load it on the transport," Jonas ordered. As
the doors to the portable vault were shut and the equipment that would seal
it was moved into position, Jonas noted how worried Yoshihiro looked. It was
time to be a responsible boss and reassure the employees. "What is it?"

At first it appeared Yoshihiro would say nothing, then he began talking quickly,
a torrent released from a burst dam. "I'm a bit worried, sir. I heard that
the other pieces of the artifact were stolen by a team of supervillains."

Jonas jerked slightly. That was supposed to be confidential. "Where
did you hear that?"

Yoshihiro became more nervous, and not for the same reason that had unnerved
him in the first place. He began to babble some nonsensical explanation when
Jonas cut him off.

"Never mind. I suppose it shows you have some initiative and resourcefulness
to have dug up that information." If Yoshihiro wanted to rise up the
corporate ladder, and anyone at his level by definition wanted to, he would
need those abilities. And if he was very good at it, Jonas would keep a close
eye on him as both potential resource and/or rival. "What I say goes
no further than here, is that understood?"

"Yes, sir."

Jonas looked around to ascertain the two were indeed alone, then continued.
"When the Challengers of the Fantastic and the Fantastic Four defeated
Prester John, his weapon, the so-called 'Evil Eye of Avalon', was shattered
into seven pieces and sent to the far corners of the Earth. The Board and Mr.
Jones felt the Eye might be a viable form of alternative energy and sent out
teams to recover the pieces. Of the seven, one was recovered by AIM, two more
by an unknown party, and two by us. Make that three including this one. We are
also in the process of recovering the final one. However, the facility that
housed the two pieces we already had was indeed raided by a group of SPBs. They
successfully stole the pieces, which is why we took special measures to protect
this piece."

Jonas pointed to the giant container. "That mobile vault is made of
adamantium. Not adamantium steel. Pure adamantium." He watched as someone
applied a liquid to the seal. Within seconds it hardened. "And now that
the piece of the Eye is inside, the door itself is sealed with adamantium
we had been keeping in its liquid state. Now that it's hardened, even we can't
open it. At least not here. The only way to open it is with a molecular rearranger,
and it's not like you can pick one up in your local department store."

Yoshihiro looked around. "Triple the usual number of security guards?"
he asked dubiously.

"Superheroes." Jonas pointed at what appeared to be a standard
yellow school bus approaching from the west. The pair watched as it pulled
up to the site, only to be surrounded by a large number of guards with high
tech weaponry.

Yoshihiro watched in disbelief as four men dressed in American Football uniforms
exited the bus. They wore red tops, white pants, and full padding. Each had
a black helmet with a vicious-looking bat etched on the side. The outfits only
differed by the numbers on each man's jersey. However, despite the identical
nature of their outfits, they were easy to tell apart. One was huge, both in
height and girth. Most sumo would probably fall before someone that big. A second
was small, with oversized hands and huge bare feet, and almost seemed to move
like a monkey. One of the others was short as well, though there seemed to be
something… furtive about him. The final member was tall, and from his bearing
the leader. He had an oversized sports equipment bag, with the barrels of a
number of weapons sticking out.

The leader handed several documents to the guards that confronted them, giving
a maniacal laugh that chilled Yoshihiro to the bone, and even seemed to unnerve
his teammates. After their identity was verified, the group walked over to
where Jonas and his subordinate stood waiting for them.

The leader smiled, his teeth honed to sharpened points. To Jonas he said,
"Eyeshield 21 at your service."

While the first part was obvious, given that they all wore eyeshields to
mask their identities, the latter part needed to be addressed. "Why '21'?"
Jonas asked.

"We hope to have that many members before the season is over."

"Aren't there normally twenty-two players on a team?"

"We'll have one guy playing both sides of the field," the leader
explained.

"I see," Jonas said.

"But there's only four of you now," Yoshihiro pointed out.

"Five," said a quiet voice from right next to him.

Yoshihiro nearly jumped out of his skin. Right beside him, as though he had
been there before the bus arrived, was a fifth uniformed man. "I… didn't
see you. Sorry."

"I perforate things with these." Crimson Commando pulled out a
pair of machine guns from the bag and began firing them in the air, causing
all the guards to duck for cover as well as pull out their own firearms.

"Good power," Jonas agreed. More than one potential problem to
Roxxon had been ended up conveniently 'perforated'. Sometimes simple solutions
were the most appropriate for complicated problems.

"The rest of my team ain't too bad either, but they need a hell of a lot
more practice before we become the best superhero team on the planet. This guy
here…" He walked over to the huge man. "…is Stonewall. He has
super strength, extra-tough skin, and is immovable once he plants himself. An
offensive lineman if ever there was one."

"Hello," Stonewall said in a very high, friendly voice.

Crimson Commando went to the small guy with the big hands and bare feet.
"This is Monkey Boy."

"It's Gibbon! Not Monkey Boy! Gibbon! Gibbon!" The little man began
dancing, resembling nothing so much as an irate monkey.

Yoshihiro couldn't say 'Gibbon' was all that much of an improvement over 'Monkey
Boy', but chose to remain silent.

"He's agile and has a good set of hands. Think of him as the wide receiver
on the team," Crimson Commando said, then went to the other small member.
"And this is the final member of our group: Super Sabre. He's super fast.
Foes are literally defeated before they know it when he's around."

Yoshihiro nodded at the group. "That's an impressive team you have assem—"

"You forgot about me," a voice said next to him.

Again Yoshihiro nearly jumped out of his skin, despite the fact the same
thing had happened just moments before. "I thought you left!"

Crimson Commando looked at the man in confusion. Then he said, "Oh,
right. That's Mr. Anonymous. He's so plain, he tends to blend into the background.
Don't feel bad. I forget he's on the team most of the time, too."

"Wait, there're five of us?" Gibbon asked.

Mr. Anonymous' sigh was so passive, no one knew he had made it.

Jonas nodded. "Now that the introductions are out of the way, here's
your mission."

"Game plan," Crimson Commando corrected.

"Game plan," Jonas said. He pointed to the vault as it was loaded
on an armored car. "You are to follow that vehicle and protect the contents
with your lives."

Crimson Commando shook his head. "Sorry, coach, I'm calling my own play.
We're going to kick the asses of those guys first." He pointed up in
the air.

Everyone looked up to see a large saucer, the front resembling a snake's
head, moving silently toward the group at a high rate of speed.

"How did they find us?" Jonas shouted.

"What difference does it make? If you weren't worried about being found,
you would never have hired us," Crimson Commando countered.

"Our reaction to it." Crimson Commando unlimbered what appeared to
be a bazooka from his pack. He aimed it from his hip, targeting the rapidly
approaching craft, then pulled the trigger. The explosive projectile made a
whooshing sound as it shot through the air, striking the saucer directly in
the serpent design. The craft came to a dead stop in midair as the explosion
from the impact blinded everyone momentarily. When the people on the ground
was able to look again, they saw that while the front was now mutilated, the
craft could still fly, with only a slight wobble in its flight.

Crimson Commando lowered his weapon. "Sturdy craft, and high tech. That
armor piercing shell should have gone clean through it."

The saucer extended struts and landed some twenty meters away. Jonas and
Yoshihiro took cover with the security forces, allowing their heroic hirelings
to earn their pay by acting as shock troops for whatever foes were about to
emerge from the ship.

A landing ramp unfolded from the saucer, touching the ground. A large hatch
opened and a quartet of brightly-garbed people exited the craft. The first
thing everyone noted about the two men and two women was that each of the
newcomers seemed to have some kind of snake motif.

The first woman was dressed in a tight pink and orange body suit, showing
off a trim athletic form. Two small metal projections were located on the
back of her hands. The second woman was dressed in a tight yellow outfit with
scales designed into it. She wore a yellow visor that covered her eyes, and
wielded a pair of metal whips that moved as though alive.

One of the men wore a purple and blue body suit with a headpiece whose top
flared out and flattened. The headpiece bore two circles that were obviously
supposed to represent eyes on the side, though his true eyes were visible
from under the headpiece.

The final member of the quartet was by far the most bizarre. While his upper
torso was decidedly human, his lower half was serpentine, stretching back
three meters before ending in a tail. He wore a green suit with scales on
every surface area other than his head, which remained bare of anything, even
hair. A pair of blades was attached to the back of his hands.

"You bastards nearly killed us," the woman in orange and pink said.

Crimson Commando snorted. "Quit whining. If you can't take a little rocket
to the nose of your vehicle, you don't have the right to call yourselves supervillains."

"He does have a point," the woman with the whips said.

Crimson Commando hefted yet another gun into his hands. "Since you survived
my initial attack, you're worthy enough to fight the Eyeshield 21. What are
your names, so we can make you into early members of our rogue's gallery?"

The woman in orange and pink spoke. "I'm Fer De Lance. A snake with
very long fangs." She crossed her arms in front of her chest in an 'X'.
Long blades shot out from the metal projections on the backs of her hands.

The woman in yellow spoke. "I'm Coachwhip, who strikes so fast you'll
be dead before you know it." She cracked the metal whips in front of
her.

"I know who you're fighting," Crimson Commando said. He looked
to the two men. "You, with the corny snake thing on your head. What's
your name?"

The man bristled. "I ain't a costume designer, you know. I just whipped
this up when my mutant powers came out. Anyway, I'm Rock Python. Skin harder
than rock, and I'm pretty strong."

The one with the serpentine lower half spoke. "And I am Bushmaster.
My abilities are… self-explanatory." His lower half lashed back and
forth.

Crimson Commando shrugged. "I just got finishing introducing my team,
so I don't feel up to going through it a second time. So why don't we cut
to the chase and beat the crap out of each another?"

Fer De Lance raced right for Stonewall. The big man remained completely motionless.
The villainess shot a cruel smile and gave a shrill battle cry as she brought
her blades back, then drove them straight for Stonewall's heart.

They bounced off his skin, completely ineffective.

Fer De Lance was caught off guard by the uselessness of her weapons. Stonewall
responded with a loud "Furuba!" and swatted her away with an open
palm strike. She went sailing away, body limp as it landed with a thud on
the packed earth.

Bushmaster slid toward the small guy with the big hands, slithering across
the ground like his namesake. It would be but a moment's work to finish off
the goofy-looking kid before attacking the big guy. While Fer De Lance's attack
might have been ineffective, he'd see what effect wrapping his bionic snake
tail and strangling the air out of him would have on the big man.

Bushmaster lashed out with the blades on the backs of his hands (silently
noting either he or Fer De Lance ought to switch the location of the weapons,
since they were nearly identical.) Much to Bushmaster's amazement, the small
youth leapt into the air with an inhuman agility. All he saw was a blur as
two oversized feet planted themselves squarely in his face. Powerful leg muscles
drove the appendages into Bushmaster's skull, rattling his brain enough to
cause unconsciousness. The last thing that went though his mind was that the
kid really needed to wash his feet: they smelled awful.

Coachwhip ran toward the other little man, whips at the ready. He didn't
look like much, not even worth flaying the skin from his bones. To her surprise,
he simply stood there, letting her draw within striking distance. That would
be his mistake. Even if he had some degree of invulnerability, it wouldn't
do him any good. The tips of her whips were adamantium steel, and with the
velocity she could create, she could drive them through just about anything.
She smiled grimly and aimed right at him…

…And then he was gone.

Coachwhip was only vaguely aware of a blur that snared her whips in mid-air.
Something red seemed to pass by her vision. And then she felt herself trip
as her legs seemed to have become one giant appendage. She tried to break
her fall, but her arms were pinned to her sides. She gave a brief cry as she
fell face-first to the ground.

The last member of the quartet, Rock Python, walked slowly over to his foe.
There had been no doubt in his mind whom he would pound into pulp. Anyone stupid
enough to insult a super-villain's costume to his face deserved to die. It wasn't
like there were any seminars on "supervillains and style" or something.

Crimson Commando aimed his gun at Rock Python and shot him in the legs. The
villain barely paused. Crimson Commando fired several more shots at various
non-lethal areas of Rock Python's body, all to no effect. He even resorted
to shooting him in the head, which barely made him flinch.

"That won't work," Rock Python said, making a great production
of cracking his knuckles. "Even armor piercers won't do more than leave
a bruise. And if you do that, I might break more than just your face."

Crimson Commando tossed the weapon aside and pulled out a small boxlike device.
He aimed it at the villain, who was no more than ten feet away. "Tell
me something."

"What?"

Crimson Commando pushed a button. Two darts with suction tips shot from the
box and adhered themselves to Rock Python. A pair of wires led from each dart
to the box. "Your skin can still conduct electricity, right?"

Rock Python went for the darts. His fingers had just brushed against one
when the box fired a huge amount of voltage through the wires and into the
villain. Rock Python fell over, smoldering and clearly unconscious.

"Thought so," Crimson Commando said, resetting the weapon.

"That was actually easy," Gibbon said.

"Maybe superheroing won't get us killed after all," Super Sabre
said in relief.

"Or it could be the day is merely young."

All eyes turned toward the origin of the voice: the serpent saucer. Standing
at the base of the ramp —having walked out while everyone was caught up in
battle — were a dozen people, also dressed in snake-themed costumes. All of
them exuded an air of danger.

"This doesn't look so good," Gibbon said to no one in particular.

One of the people moved forward. He wore a full-body costume and mask so that
no portion of his skin showed. Like the others it was reptilian, completely
brown with a long orange cape that billowed about him as though it had a life
of its own. He had a belt with a holstered pistol of unknown design in it.

The villain clapped. "Bravo. Nice work. I sincerely thought those four
would do better with their audition."

"Somewhat. The four people you fought were trying out for a position
in the Serpent Society. That's us, by the way." He indicated the large
group before him.

Super Sabre looked the group over. "There're an awful lot of you."

Sidewinder shrugged. "To be honest, we don't have any true powerhouses
on the team. I guess anyone of the Hulk's or Tomazooma's stature doesn't want
to go with a snake motif. Rhinoceroses or Buffalos seem to be more in their
line. But what we might lack in strength, we make up for in versatility and
numbers."

"And you're the leader?" Crimson Commando asked.

"Sidewinder, at your service." He bowed.

"Thought so." He turned to Super Sabre. "Blitz Package 8."

Super Sabre nodded. That was one of their basic plays: Have the fast guy
take out the bad guys' leadership elements and throw the rank and file into
chaos.

Super Sabre ran at full speed toward Sidewinder. The world seemed to be in
slow motion as everyone else stood immobile. A dozen fists to the head delivered
in one second should knock him out. He didn't seem to be the type who had
super durability or uncanny reflexes. After that he'd go after anyone that
seemed to be toting a weapon.

Super Sabre had cleared half the distance between him and Sidewinder when something
caught his eye. It was the woman standing next to Sidewinder. Like him, she
wore a full-body suit, though a swath of green hair poked out the top of her
outfit. Her outfit was skin tight and unusually plain, a black body suit that
showed a slender form underneath. Her boots were slightly large, and for some
reason she wore kneepads. She was the least snake-like of the group.

It was then she did the impossible. She moved. No, she didn't just move, she
moved at normal speed. Super Sabre had been so focused on Sidewinder he had
no time to react as the girl ran forward, arm outstretched. He barely had enough
time to roll with the clothesline as she nearly decapitated him from the force
of their opposing velocities.

Super Sabre's unconscious body skidded across the ground at a speed in excess
of one hundred kilometers an hour. He kicked up a dust cloud that stretched
for a full kilometer before friction and inertia forced him to stop.

The remaining members of Eyeshield 21 looked on in stunned silence.

The girl in black moved slow enough to become visible again, wrapping an
arm around Sidewinder's waist in a very intimate manner.

Sidewinder said, "This is Black Racer. She moves fast in every way.
She seduced me within a week of meeting her."

The largest man in the group, who was dressed in a green-and-blue outfit with
a much better designed snake cowl than Rock Python, charged toward the equally
sizeable Stonewall. As he charged, he bellowed, "The name's Puff Adder,
and I'm a lot stronger that that Rock Python geek."

Stonewall merely stood there, bracing himself.

Puff Adder took a deep breath as he ran, seeming to become bigger a moment
before he struck Stonewall. He bowled into the hero full force.

And Puff Adder was sent flying backward anyway.

The villain lay on the ground, rubbing his head. "Jeez. That guy didn't
budge an inch."

A beautiful woman, slender with a dancer's body, moved next to the fallen
Puff Adder. She was dressed in a simple white dress that showed a great deal
of flesh, and with only a pair of green snakes flowing up the sides. The only
other snake thing about her was a snake shaped tiara on her brow.

Asp looked Stonewall over. "Tell me, did he seem to be wearing armor?"

"Nah. He seemed more like Anaconda. Naturally tough. Not wearing armor
like Death Adder."

"Good." Asp held out her hands and a twisting bolt of yellow energy
leapt forth from her palms. It struck Stonewall dead center in his chest.

For a moment nothing happened, then Stonewall's eyes rolled into the back
of his head and he hit the ground, unconscious.

Asp smiled at her handiwork. "It doesn't matter how big he is. My venom
blasts paralyze the nervous system. If they can hit skin, they can affect
my foe."

Puff Adder rose to his feet. "Nice moves, Aspie. How about after this
is all over you show me what other moves you have?"

She cradled his chin in her hand. "Don't make me shoot you too, Puff.
A high enough dosage will still your heart."

While Stonewall fell to Asp, Crimson Commando was in motion. To Gibbon he
yelled, "Run interference!" while he aimed a gun at the still casual
Sidewinder.

Gibbon looked at the half-dozen supervillains heading toward him and Crimson
Commando. "Oh, what the hell." He gave a battlecry and leapt for the
group. Maybe a suicidal attack would catch them off guard and he would beat
them all. He had heart. He was the underdog. He wasn't about to let fear rule
him. The good guys always won when those factors came into play.

And then one of the snake men, with a tail with a knob on the end, shook
it in Gibbon's direction. The monkey boy found himself struck with a solid
wall of vibrations that knocked him out.

"Score one for Rattler," the man with the tail said.

Crimson Commando knew it was over, but was damned if he wouldn't take the
cocky snake leader with him. He aimed a gun at Sidewinder, who refused to
move. Crimson Commando smiled. He had worked with Super Sabre before. No matter
how quick Black Racer was, she wasn't fast enough to prevent Crimson Commando's
reflexes from firing first.

He squeezed the trigger. Just as he did so, Sidewinder's cape flowed around
him, momentarily blocking him from view. Then the cape impossibly folded in
on itself so small that Sidewinder couldn't possibly be in it. Then it disappeared
altogether.

Crimson Commando had only a second to wonder what had happened to his adversary
when he was struck from behind by a stun blast that rendered him unconscious.

Sidewinder holstered the stun blaster. He turned to see the serpents that
had not taken on the superheroes had obliterated the security forces. Like
clockwork. "And that takes care of that."

Black Racer disappeared for a few seconds, then came into view again, "I
swept the area. We're secure."

A lead pipe to the back of the head sent her to the ground.

Sidewinder gasped as the fifth member of Eyeshield suddenly… Well, he didn't
exactly appear from nowhere, as if he had been invisible. Nor had he been moving
at super speed and finally slowed down. It was like he had always been there
and Sidewinder only happened to notice him because he had hit Black Racer.

"Get him!" Sidewinder shouted.

Mr. Anonymous found himself set upon by over a dozen supervillains, and learned
the hard way that sometimes anonymity was a blessing.

After beating the hero within an inch of his life, the serpents backed away,
though they double-checked the area to make sure no one else was lurking in
the background. Or foreground.

Now certain the area was secure, Sidewinder walked over to the vault. A beautiful
woman in a skimpy, skintight black outfit, and adorned with a trio of lifelike
small snakes wrapped around her body, examined the vault.

She wrapped a knuckle on the side. "Looks like adamantium to me. It's
impossible for any of us to crack it."

"So we'll sidestep it, my dear Black Mamba." Sidewinder's cape
engulfed him again, folding in on itself until it disappeared from sight.
A moment later the process reversed itself, the cape appearing from nowhere,
and unwrapping to reveal the man underneath.

"Teleportation. Not much of an offensive power, but unparalleled in
obtaining hard to get merchandise." Sidewinder held a peculiar device
in his hand. It almost appeared to be a holder for a torch. "Excellent.
With the other five pieces we have collected, we need only one more, then
our freedom will become a reality. But first, we need to deal with our trainees."

By this time the four petitioners had recovered and approached Sidewinder.

Fer De Lance was the first to speak. "That was a fluke. It wasn't a true
test of my abilities. I've killed dozens of people more powerful than that.
Give me another—"

"Relax," Sidewinder soothed. "You all passed."

"But they defeated us," Bushmaster pointed out.

"You were overmatched. Also there was too much of a reliance on weapon
users in your grouping rather than the variety of skills needed against superheroes.
All of you have abilities that will benefit the Serpent Society. Line up,
if you would. Cottonmouth!"

Cottonmouth approached his leader. He was on the slender side, with a gray
costume with yellow boots and gloves. The abdomen of his suit had design to
make it look like it was a mouth. He wore a headpiece as well, similar to
Puff Adder's, but with a chin guard. The top and bottom had faux teeth, making
it look like his face was inside a giant mouth.

"The induction ceremony, as we discussed," Sidewinder said.

Cottonmouth nodded, pulling out four communications devices that also served
as homing beacons.

He handed one to Bushmaster. "Like the tail," Cottonmouth said.

Bushmaster bowed his head, stoically accepting the card.

Next Cottonmouth walked up to Rock Python. "That guy didn't know what
he was talking about. It's a great headpiece."

"Yours is nice too." He accepted the card as well.

Coachwhip was next. Cottonmouth said, "Here you go, and if you ever
need tying up, I can show you a good time." He grinned lasciviously.

"Snakes turn me off," she said icily.

Cottonmouth paused, staring at the woman trying to determine if she was serious.

"Just get on with it," Sidewinder urged him before Cottonmouth
could even try to argue the point.

He walked up to the last one in line. "And yours."

Fer De Lance accepted the badge.

Cottonmouth then showed his superhuman ability as his jaw literally dropped
a foot and a half, showing off a set of razor sharp teeth. He lunged forward,
his mouth widening to inhuman dimensions as he engulfed Fer De Lance's entire
head. His jaws shut with an audible snap. There was the sound of bone breaking
as he drew his head back.

The three remaining inductees stood paralyzed for a second. Then they reacted,
backing away from Cottonmouth, weapons at the ready.

"Oh my god!" Bushmaster gasped.

"What the hell is going on?" Rock Python shouted.

Coachwhip held her whips apart, one looking like it might wrap around Cottonmouth,
while the other was aimed in Sidewinder's direction. "I thought you said
we were on the team!"

"You are," Sidewinder said as the sounds of bone continuing to
break came from Cottonmouth's now impossibly swollen cheeks, though they were
becoming smaller by the second. "Unfortunately for Fer De Lance, she
was already on another team and was only pretending to be on ours. She was
a Hydra double agent. I am very much an 'honor among thieves' sort of leader,
which is why I bargained for our official release from our current employer
rather than just running off, despite her giving many of us our abilities.
Like Cottonmouth's cybernetic cranial and digestive tract reconstruction."

Cottonmouth nodding in acknowledgement, crunching away.

"Excuse me for one second," Asp said, then ran behind a nearby
rock so she could vomit in privacy.

One of the men dressed in a copper colored snake outfit, whose name was,
appropriately enough, Copperhead, approached Sidewinder. He handed over his
card, then walked off.

When no one else stepped forward, Sidewinder said, "Excellent. We will
now return to our employer so she can fix our Serpent Saucer. We have but one
more piece to track down, then we'll be freelancers and our own bosses. No more
goddamn requests for vacations, time card punching, or filling out forms in
triplicate. And to add frosting to the cake, I got us a top notch severance
package to give us a start. I have my eye on this cozy little hideaway in Hawaii
for our base of operations. No dark dank fortresses in the middle of nowhere
for us. It'll be fun in the sun and ocean waves lapping at our feet…."

A Ranma ½ / Avengers (the superhero group) fusion
by DB Sommer

Disclaimer: Ranma ½ owned by Rumiko Takahashi, Shogakukan, Kitty,
and Viz Video. The Avengers are owned by Marvel Comics. Yes, the superheroes,
not the British TV Series.

Foreword: Here's
a great reference guide for many characters and objects in the Marvel Universe.
Comic geeks like me, including people that have worked for Marvel, have put
it together. Heck, they refer to stuff even I didn't know about. (Like how it
was Warhawk that had killed Atom Smasher I from the brief Black Goliath run.
Hey, it was a fun five issues series.)

Act II, Scene 9: The Lesson of the Serpents (Strength
in Numbers)

It was a call Kodachi Kunou didn't expect. Her late father's personal line,
which was never used since everyone knew he had been declared dead and that
Kodachi had her own personal line, suddenly emitted a song with a Hawaiian flavor
to it. She made a mental note to have the tune purged from the system.

Whoever was calling had been lucky in her being in her father's old office
when it rang. Kodachi picked up the phone and entered the ten digit code to
accept the call. Instantly a viewscreen popped up from the desk and activated.
It showed a somewhat heavyset gaijin dressed in an expensive suit. Kodachi
recognized him instantly. Hugh Jones was synonymous with Roxxon the company
he founded, and remained its majority shareholder.

"Thank you. I've noticed Roxxon is doing equally well on the open market."
The proper greetings had been exchanged. The need for etiquette had been met.
Kodachi wanted to cut to the chase. "If I may be so bold, how is it one
of my late father's competitors is calling me on his personal line?"

Jones smiled. While it didn't touch his eyes, neither was it hostile. "Yes,
well, you see, your father and I had something of an unusual friendship. Roxxon
has always been geared toward energy production while Kunou Industries has
focused on munitions and pineapples."

"We're a bit more diverse than that, and we're liquidating our pineapple
holdings." It was a repulsive fruit her father had been far too obsessed
over. The money from the sales was going to obtain a new pharmaceutical company
that had caught Kodachi's eye. While her father had possessed a head for business,
his mania with fruit and his disdain for pharmaceuticals were definite blind
spots in his psyche. He had been far too eccentric for his own good at times.
Luckily Kodachi was beyond such things. She was perfectly normal, and had a
good outlet for any stress that bothered her. Repulsor beams to a supervillain's
head were very therapeutic.

Not that she would share such inside information regarding the change in
KI's mission profile with Jones. "Now, what were you saying about your
relationship with my father?"

"Since we had few common interests, we would occasionally share information
with one another, assuming it wouldn't lead to cross-purposes, of course."

"Of course," Kodachi said. "Insider information?"

"No. More like a gentlemen's agreement," Jones corrected. "In
any event, I thought we might engage in an exchange of favors that would benefit
us mutually."

"What sort of favors?" Kodachi asked, unwilling to agree to anything
before the cards were on the table.

"As a show of good faith, I shall lead off," Jones said. "A
few months ago a company called the Brand Corporation was bought out from
under us through a shell company. Let's just say the tactics used to beat
us were underhanded by even the lowest of standards."

Oh great. A long-winded story. Kodachi tired of this beating around the bush.
"And this concerns me how?"

Jones took no offense, at least outwardly. "Brand was making incredible
inroads in the creations of super-powered beings. As part of the negotiations,
we were shown some of their plans, including the creation of a unit of SPBs.
Recently a group of supervillains appeared, a number of them with abilities
identical to those being developed by Brand. They have been going by the name
'The Serpent Society'. If you were to send your own team of SPBs to defeat them,
I'm certain you could handle these snakes."

Kodachi steepled her fingers before her as she stared at the screen. "First,
while I am financing the Avengers, they are most certainly not my employees.
Only my personal bodyguard, Iron Rose, is. The Avengers operate at their own
discretion. Secondly, why are you so concerned about these supervillains? Surely
this isn't revenge over being outmaneuvered in your business dealings?"

Jones was silent for a moment, then said, "No, it's more personal than
that. Roxxon was attempting to gather pieces of an item that might have served
as an alternative energy source. The Serpent Society stole our pieces from us,
as well those that had been gathered by others. The only piece left is in our
possession, which means they'll be coming after it. I can't say I care for the
idea of a group of highly dangerous supervillains getting their hands on this
potential energy source."

Now that made sense. And it was something she could agree to. The world did
not need another Mandarin. "What would you want the Avengers to do?"

"We have a surefire method of preventing them from ever getting the
final piece, but we need time to relocate it to the proper facility. We'd
like the Avengers to guard the piece until it can be dealt with. If you can
arrange this for me, I would be more than happy to share some information
that concerns KI."

That piqued her interest further. "Go on."

Jones smiled, delighted at her interest. "I have become aware that one
of your major stockholders is about to be pressured into selling her stock.
I can give you the name so you get a chance to buy it first. So you see, the
Avengers will have a chance to take down a group of dangerous supervillains
and you'll be protecting your company from a possible hostile takeover."

Kodachi had to admit, it was a tempting offer, one she couldn't refuse for
both reasons Jones had stated. Supervillains needed to be incarcerated and she
needed to protect her company, especially since someone had attempted to kill
her, as well as them probably killing both her brother and father. "I see.
Very well. I'll have Iron Rose broach the subject. If the Avengers are agreeable,
I'll inform you."

"Excellent," Jones said. "Due to the urgency of the matter,
the piece is being moved later today. I only told you this at the last minute
due to our moving ahead of schedule. I'll give you the time and location to
meet with the convoy that will be taking it to the secure facility. It's been
a pleasure doing business with you."

"It has been interesting," Kodachi conceded, then cut the transmission.
So, her father's backroom dealings went beyond what she had thought. She didn't
trust Roxxon; there had been far too many rumors concerning the way they did
business, and she doubted their attempt to acquire Brand's SPBs had been for
the benefit of mankind. Still, it seemed as though there was an even greater
threat than Roxxon involved in this, and Kodachi was one who preferred dealing
with the devil she knew to the one she didn't.

Iron Rose peered through the eyeslits of her visor at the assemblage of heroes.
For a change, everyone had shown up — except the part-time trollop Bucky —
even the ever-wandering Hulk was sitting at the table, fixated on Thor. Of course,
he had simply followed the beeping from the homing beacon in his bandanna, rather
than having any desire to help out. But upon seeing Thor, he had become like
a giant puppy, eager to follow her around.

At the moment all was peaceful, but there was no telling how long that might
last with such diverse personalities. All too often one wrong word would send
the team into a heated debate.

Iron Rose activated her voice amplifier, increasing it three times so that
she might be heard over the din. "Avengers, I have called this meeting
for a purpose."

"Is Tin Can Girl serving beans?" Hulk asked.

"We can arrange that before we leave," Iron Rose told him, informing
Sasuke to prepare the Hulk's usual twenty pound helping of beans 'to go'.
In some ways, the Hulk was quite easy to deal with compared to the others.
Unless he lost his temper, than he was by far the worst of the lot. If only
everyone could be as composed as her Captain Japan, who never made problems
and was the ideal team player in every way.

Iron Rose started to become lost in a fantasy of the Captain sweeping her off
her feet, when she was outside of her armor, of course. She didn't have a lot,
well, any contact with the opposite gender, and he was an ideal one to start
out with. Those huge muscles, that proud profile, that cute butt….

"Ahem." Hawkeye cleared her throat in an openly irritated manner.

"I'm getting to the point," Iron Rose said testily. "I have
come upon information indicating a supervillain group known as the Serpent Society
will attack a Roxxon convoy. I suggest we travel with it so that we might ambush
these villains and bring them to justice. I'd like a vote on the matter to see
if we shall stop these foul villains from committing their acts of perfidy."

Giant Man, currently at his normal height, said, "I don't think we should
do thi—"

Wasp cut him off. "Of course we have to stop these mean and nasty supervillains
and kick their behinds. Isn't that right, Giant Man?"

Giant Man took one look into his diminutive partner's eyes. No, he didn't
want to fight them. He wanted to go home and look over some updates he had
to turn in to keep his medical license. But there was no way he would allow
Kasumi to walk into the jaws of danger. "Yes."

Their hands both went up.

Hulk said. "Tin Can Girl wants us to smash snakes?"

"Yes."

"Hulk does not like snakes. Hulk will help smash snakes." He raised
his hand.

Thor's hand followed. "We should smite these foul miscreants."

Daredevil remained sitting with his hands crossed. "No way. I'm not
some stooge for a big oil conglomerate like Roxxon."

Hawkeye followed suit. "I'm inclined to agree with Daredevil. Roxxon
has been involved in some pretty shady deals. Maybe they're doing something
illegal too. I mean, they could go to the authorities and have them help."

Hawkeye tried muscling the goddess out of the way. Failing to move her an
inch, she settled for squishing herself between the Asgardian and Iron Rose.
"I agree."

Daredevil remained sitting. "Let him go. We don't need him."

Iron Rose turned in fury upon him. "You sightless moron. We need the
Captain more than we need you."

Now Daredevil shot to his feet in confrontation with Iron Rose and the two
squared off.

The Hulk finally rose to his feet, having caught the gist of the conversation.
"Shield Man reminds Hulk of Hulk's enemy. Maybe Hulk should smash Shield
Man before he leaves."

Captain Japan put his hands to his lips and gave a sharp whistle, catching
everyone's attention once again. "Guys! It's a family emergency, kind
of. A problem with my mother."

"Can't you just take a leave of absence? It'll be paid for," Iron
Rose assured him.

Captain Japan shook his head. "Nah. The problem ain't going to go away.
I gotta quit. Probably retire altogether. And Bucky will be coming with me."

"We can get by without her," Hawkeye assured him.

"Verily."

"I concur," came from Iron Rose.

"Well don't get all worked up over that," Captain Japan said dryly.
"Anyway, I'm resigning effective immediately." He turned and walked
out without looking back.

The others stared at his retreating form. Iron Rose recovered from the shock
first. "We will discuss the matter of the captain's resignation later."

"I shall bring him back," Thor said.

"This is a voluntary group," Daredevil pointed out.

"Then I shall voluntarily bring him back."

Daredevil gave up. Arguing with goddesses just wasn't worth the hassle.

Iron Rose continued. "At the moment, it's five to two in favor of stopping
the Serpent Society. We'll defeat these villains, and if we catch wind of any
Roxxon wrongdoings, we'll stop them too."

That seemed to placate the still-stunned Hawkeye, though Daredevil remained
firm in his disapproval.

Course decided, Iron Rose activated a holographic map that had already been
programmed with the necessary information. "The target is being moved today,
so we'll have to set off immediately. Here's the battle plan I recommend…."

An hour later the Avengers landed on a makeshift landing strip near an old,
dormant volcano. A number of vehicles formed a ring around a large container.
As the Quinjet set down and the Avengers got off, a man in a business suit,
completely inappropriate for the terrain, approached them.

Iron Rose took the lead. Since she had called the group together, and had
superior knowledge of corporate diplomacy, she had been placed in charge of
the mission.

The man bowed deeply. "Greetings, I'm Yoshihiro Kimura, the head of
this operation. Might I say it's an honor to meet you. I'm glad, no, relieved
you're here to help. Even with our security detail, we're no match for real
SPBs."

"It's an honor to meet you as well—" Iron rose said, then was interrupted
as one of the security personnel, who had a set of binoculars scanning the
sky, suddenly shouted, "It's them again! All personnel take cover!"
And he promptly did so.

All eyes looked upward to the serpent-shaped saucer flying toward the convoy
low and to the ground. The saucer was already coming to a stop before the man
had finished seeking cover.

"I like it when they don't make us wait," Wasp said eagerly as a
ramp appeared from the ship and a large number of snake-motif villains stepped
down from the saucer.

Iron Rose turned to Thor and the Hulk. "I want you two to scatter them."

"Wait!" Giant Man said. "Let's try to talk to them."

"Why?" Wasp said, openly perturbed.

"Yes, why?" Iron Rose asked.

"So we can have a peaceful resolution for a change. Because not everything
in the world needs to be resolved with violence. Maybe we can defuse the situation
if we understand why they're doing this. They might have very legitimate reasons."

"I'm against it because there are a whole lot more of them than us,
and we're giving them a chance to formulate a defense." Hawkeye fingered
the feathered shafts sticking out of her quiver nervously.

Seeing any element of surprise had been lost in the discussion, Iron Rose
said. "Very well. We'll give diplomacy a chance, though I'm not very
hopeful."

Hawkeye said, "I'm hopeful, because I don't like the three-to-one odds
we're facing."

Giant Man approached the group of snakes, who were fanning out away from
the saucer. As he did so, Daredevil moved next to Hawkeye and said softly,
"I'm with you. This isn't going to work. I can tell by the heartbeat
of the one with hair sticking out of the top of her outfit that she's a speedster."

"The one all in black?" Hawkeye asked.

Daredevil simply went silent.

Hawkeye could sense the irritation radiating from him. "Oh, right. The
color thing." She turned red in embarrassment. "The one with kneepads?"

"Yes, that one. If it hits the fan, she'll be the first one on us. We'll
use Plan 10."

"Right." One of the advantages of having faced a speedster before,
and gotten trounced by him on more than one occasion, was that they had developed
tactics to counter someone with similar abilities. Hawkeye moved the shaft that
Plan 10 called for away from the others and waited for the situation to break
down. Really, talking with supervillains. If they could be reasoned with, they
wouldn't be supervillains. Especially snake-oriented ones. Only major weirdoes
went around in scales.

Giant Man decided to remain at his normal height as a show of faith to the
oddly-garbed newcomers. None of these people were very well, given their obvious
snake fetishes. After the situation was peacefully resolved, he'd recommend
a therapist that specialized in people with fetish problems to them.

Some of them tensed up, as though to strike. Giant Man was quick to locate
the one that seemed to be the leader, dressed in a brown full snake bodysuit,
and shout to him, "Wait. Before we engage in mindless violence which
will only result in needless injury, let's try and resolve this peacefully."

"What an unexpected surprise." Sidewinder held up his hand, indicating
his forces should remain at attention, though his eyes never left Giant Man.
"Very well, what do you have to say?"

"Why are you doing this?" It was a basic question which was the
key to settling many issues.

Sidewinder considered that. "If you must know, part of it is money and
the other part has to do with being given independence from the people that
gave most of us our abilities."

Yes! Giant Man knew it. There was a reasonable explanation for their actions;
one that could be resolved with a little effort. "That's easy. I'm sure
Roxxon will pay you not to attack them, and we'll help free you from your
master's control. There's no need to fight after all."

Sidewinder shook his head. "You misunderstand. We're all volunteers
that are contractually obligated to do this. We're far too honorable to break
our word. Now let me turn the tables and ask, why are you Avengers here? Is
Kodachi Kunou in the habit of loaning out her forces to corrupt oil conglomerates?"

"Hey! I'm here under protest!" Daredevil shouted, his heightened
hearing able to listen in as though he were standing next to the pair.

Iron Rose was also perturbed and sounded angry enough to blast Sidewinder
out of hand. "And the Avengers have complete autonomy in making their
own decisions. The stipend they receive is in recognition of the difficulty
of their work. Only I am a salaried employee of Kunou Industries."

"Oh, of course you are." Sarcasm dripped from Sidewinder like venom.
"Why don't you just move along. I see you're one person short, and in
case you didn't notice, we outnumber you considerably."

"I noticed," Hawkeye said.

"Enough talk," came the Wasp's voice from the center of a number
of the villains. Bushmaster was suddenly struck by a double 'sting' to the
face, instantly rendering him unconscious.

"So much for dialogue," Iron Rose said as the first shot opened
the floodgates

Everything happened at once. Before Wasp could follow up on her attack Rattler
raised his tail up and sent a solid wave of vibratory force through the air.
It was so wide and so hard Wasp didn't stand a chance as she was swatted from
the air and hit the ground.

Seeing the woman he loved struck down, Giant Man cried out and shot up to
a height of twenty feet. Rock Python, who had been standing next to Sidewinder,
ran up to his large feet and confronted him.

"Out of the way!" Giant Man shouted, seeing only red. He kicked
Rock Python, knocking the villain prone. Then Giant Man cried out in pain
and held his foot.

Giant Man stopped hopping around and grabbed Rock Python. Due to his large
hand, he was able to pin his opponent's hands to his sides.

Rock Python laughed. "Stupid. You ain't the Hulk or Thor. You aren't
strong enough to squeeze me and cause me any pain."

"Who said I'm going to squeeze you?" And with that Giant Man drew
back, then threw Rock Python like he was a man-sized football. The villain
went sailing off in the distance.

As Giant Man took a moment to estimate how long it would take the villain
to run back, a stabbing pain came from his back. He cried out in agony and
tried to remove the source, which was large, heavy, and seemed to be hanging
on to his back. He backed up, ramming whatever it was against the serpent
saucer itself. The stabbing sensation stopped increasing, but there was a
sharp pain from an obvious wound.

Giant Man turned around and saw Cottonmouth picking himself up. His cheeks
were bulging as he chewed on something. Giant Man felt behind him for the
source of the pain and realized he was bleeding from a sizeable chunk of flesh
that was now missing from his back.

"You… you bit me," he said in disgust.

"Injected some venom into you through my fangs, too, though you're so
big, I doubt if it will bother you," Cottonmouth could barely get out
through his overstuffed cheeks.

Giant Man suddenly felt like throwing up. Before he could do anything, one
of the Asp's venom blasts struck him in the face. While it didn't knock him
out, due to his huge size, he felt very woozy. Many of the muscles in his
face becoming unmoving, as well as his mind being affected. His thoughts slowed
as he swayed around, as though drunk.

At the same time Wasp was getting swatted, Daredevil initiated Plan 10, shouting
at Black Racer, "Hey, you ugly hag. If you're going to wear skin-tight
clothing, do it in something that doesn't make your ass look fat!"

She was almost too fast. Luckily Hawkeye had fired her arrow before Daredevil
had finished speaking. Also to their advantage, Black Racer was had developed
tunnel vision only for the red-garbed hero, who was pulling a batch of tanglewire
from his robes.

The grease arrow splattered right in front of Black Racer. She had no time
to react, hitting the patch and wiping out.

As she slid past Daredevil, she hit the bail of tanglewire he had thrown
in front of her. While it lacked barbs, it was wiry and strong enough that
as Black Racer rolled around in it, she ended up wrapped in a small cocoon
of metal.

With the flick of the wrist, a billy club appeared in Daredevil's hand. He
threw the metal truncheon at Sidewinder, but before it covered half the distance,
Sidewinder's cape had engulfed him. By the time it came within ten feet of
where he had been, the villain had teleported out of the line of fire.

The cape unfolded, allowing Sidewinder to see he had teleported directly
behind Daredevil, as he had planned. He brought out his stun pistol from the
holster at his hip and took aim at the hero's back.

Two more billy clubs appeared in Daredevil's hands from the sleeves of his
robes. Without looking behind him, he threw them over his shoulders. Both
projectiles were on target, one hitting Sidewinder in the wrist and making
him drop the pistol, while the second struck him in the head, rendering him
unconscious.

Before Daredevil could react a third opponent came at him. Coachwhip's weapons
danced in the air, as though alive. "All the tricks in the world aren't
going to save you from someone as talented as me."

"I'm sure," Daredevil threw a dozen weighted chains at Coachwhip.
She proved as good as her word, effortlessly batting aside all of the weapons.
She then hurled a whip at him.

He pulled out a metal bat and let the whip coil around it. Just as he was
about to rip the weapon out of Coachwhip's hands, a surge of electricity shot
through it. Daredevil hit the ground, twitching in agony.

Coachwhip smiled. "The problem with being familiar with many weapons
is you can't beat someone who's specialized in one. Especially when it has
a hidden surprise."

"I couldn't agree with you more." Hawkeye shot an arrow at Coachwhip's
back. However, halfway there her shaft was intercepted by an oversized diamond-shaped
projectile.

A second one headed toward Hawkeye's head. She shot that one of mid-air with
a normal arrow, triggering an explosion.

She turned to see the thrower. It was a woman dressed in a pink and black
skin-tight bodysuit, as unsnake-like as Black Racer's outfit. A large number
of 'throwing diamonds' were attached by bands around her waist, legs, arms,
and even neck.

"So you use trick diamonds… Diamondback?" she guessed.

"Yes. Trick arrows?"

"Yes."

Diamondback shouted, "Hey, guys, the archer's mine! Don't interfere!"

"Same goes for me!" Hawkeye shouted at her comrades, suddenly feeling
very excited.

Diamondback held out a number of diamonds. "Let's dance." And threw
them.

Hawkeye answered with a storm of arrows.

Thor found herself confronted by Black Mamba. Already irritated at Captain
Japan's resignation, she was barely able to concentrate on what was obviously
an inferior foe. "Harlot, thou pranceth about in nearly as little clothing
as a former comrade of mine."

Thor considered that. "Not quite as buxom, methinks, but not bad at…."
Thor suddenly realized where her thoughts had been taking her. "I have
no interest in thine perversions. I shall— Argh!"

Thor cried out as two sets of claws racked across her back, biting deep enough
to leave trails of blood behind. It was most remarkable, considering her Asgardian
skin was bulletproof. Reflexively she lashed out at the one who had dared
to stab her in the back while she was distracted.

Death Adder, dressed in green and purple armor with a large fin on the top,
was probably they most deadly of the Serpent Society, outside of Cottonmouth.
His primary ability was his long fingers which had osmium tipped metal 'nails',
each coated with a healthy quantity of poison. He also possessed a prehensile
tail tipped with spikes, also coated in poison, and superhuman agility. It was
that agility and body armor which prevented him from needing a body cast for
the next month, as Thor's backhand didn't catch him flush. Instead he was only
sent sailing away, bouncing off a rock like a racquetball before hitting the
ground with only a handful of minor bruises and a dislocated jaw.

Dispatching her foe, Thor turned back to Black Mamba, intent on removing
her from the field of battle as well. She wanted to do it fast, as already
a burning sensation starting from the scratches was coursing through her body.

However, upon returning her attention to her first foe, Thor saw an oddly-shaped
black cloud form in front of her. It was about the size of a person, but composed
of some unearthly substance that reflected no light. It was like a chunk of
living darkness.

"What is this?" Thor asked, gazing into the inky black substance.
There was something disturbing about it, almost as though there was something
moving beneath the surface.

Black Mamba said, "Think of it as a mirror to the soul. If you've ever
loved, you'll see what lies underneath. Look more closely."

A part of Thor knew she should refuse, but she couldn't seem to help herself.
There was something there. No, there was someone there.

And then she saw it. How could she have been so blind. It was her. At long
last. After an eternity, her.

The black cloud blanketed Thor. She remained motionless, her mind telling
her to allow her beloved to embrace her.

The cloud solidified, tightening around the goddess in its embrace.

The Hulk was momentarily confused by what was happening. For one thing, he
wasn't sure about how well this 'talking' business was going to turn out.
It never seemed to work for him. Then the fighting started, with a bunch of
snake people running around. Curiously, none of them bothered the Hulk. He
had been content to leave things at that when he saw Hammer Girl being engulfed
by a disturbing black mist. That was a no-no. It was time to help out his
friend.

He started to head toward her when he felt something slither up his back,
then move up to rest on his shoulders. It felt creepy, almost like a snake.

Suddenly an upside down head, one dressed in a cowl that made it look like
a cobra with its hood out, appeared before the Hulk.

"What?" was all the Hulk got out as the Cobra used his wrist launcher
to fire a trio of capsules right down the Hulk's throat. He then used his
inhuman speed to slither off the hulk's shoulders and back to the ground before
the green goliath got his hands on him.

The Hulk gagged as he swallowed the capsules. "What did snake man give
Hulk? Was it vitamins? Hulk doesn't like vitamins."

Cobra said. "It's a special concoction of mine combining the most potent
snake venoms known to man… multiplied. You just ingested enough to kill
a herd of elephants."

"Hulk is not a herd of elephants!" he shouted then felt his stomach
rumble. "Hulk not feel so good."

"Actually you should feel dead," Cobra said, concerned. While he
could probably evade the Hulk with his inhuman speed, he doubted he would
get another chance to trick the brute into swallowing more of his poison.
He knew he should have gone after Daredevil. There was a guy that cried out
'non-invulnerable hide'.

Suddenly Puff Adder stood next to Cobra. "I'll finish the job!"
he declared, running right at the Hulk, who had fallen to his knees and started
to retch.

A repulsor blast from the air hit the ground in front of Cobra and Puff Adder.
The large man was only knocked off his feet, while Cobra absorbed the brunt
of the explosion. Lacking his ally's durability, he was knocked out cold.

Iron Rose shouted, "You'll not a lay a hand on the green goliath."
She swept down to finish off Puff Adder.

As she flew low, she suddenly felt a great weight leap onto her back. A pair
of arms wrapped themselves around hers, forcing them off to the side. She
felt something else wrap themselves around her torso. She looked down to see
they were a pair of legs.

Iron Rose tried turning her head around, and saw a huge, bulky, and very ugly
woman attached to her back. The woman's arms and legs had coiled around her
like a serpent's, and already the pressure was building on the armor.

"That's what everyone says until their lungs collapse." Anaconda
began applying more pressure.

Iron Rose suddenly became very concerned as warning lights flashed on her
armor's diagnostics.

Things were not going well for her team.

Asp lined up another shot at Giant Man. "Let's see if a second shot
to the head can bring you down, Big Boy."

"And then I'll rip out his throat," Cottonmouth said, finally choking
down the chunk of meat he had torn from the hero's back.

"Maybe I won't shoot him then," Asp said. Then she realized that
if she didn't, she'd probably get stepped on like a garden snake. Still, maybe
afterwards she could 'accidentally' shoot Cottonmouth with a fatal blast at
close range.

Asp aimed and fired. However, as the yellow beam of energy leapt from her
hands, a spinning shield blocked the shot. Unfortunately for Asp, her venom
blasts lacked kinetic energy, which meant the shield kept flying on the exact
same course it had been hurled on. It struck her solidly, knocking her out.
As it bounced off her it struck Cottonmouth in the jaw before arcing back
and returning to the thrower, who made what would have been a difficult catch
out of thoughtless reflex.

"You're back!" Giant Man exclaimed.

All Captain Japan said was, "Grow to fifty feet."

"I won't be that much stronger than I am now," Giant Man warned.
His strength did not increase in direct proportion to his mass. Anything beyond
thirty feet and he had to use increasing amounts of strength simply to support
himself. Theoretically he could grow larger than his strength could sustain
him, possibly to the point of death.

"With pleasure," Iron Rose gasped, concerned since she had been
unable to overpower Anaconda due to leverage, and, given the snake woman's
positioning, was also unable to bring any of her weapons to bear. All she
could do was fly around and slowly feel her armor buckle.

Iron Rose flew to within reach of Giant Man and showed her back to him.

Giant Man reached for Anaconda, wondering how to best pry her off. It proved
unnecessary as the woman's limbs pulled away from Iron Rose and wrapped themselves
around Giant Man's hand.

"I'll just crush you instead!" Anaconda shouted, as she tried to
exert some pressure. It was then she discovered a flaw in her plan. His hand
was so big she couldn't get enough leverage to crush anything.

Giant Man ended her concern by slamming her into the ground.

Captain Japan shouted, "Hawkeye, help out Daredevil now!"

"I'm busy!" Hawkeye barely intercepted an acid and a razor diamond
with a pair of arrows. It wasn't looking good, since she was almost out of
arrows thanks to her evenly matched opponent.

"Now!" he ordered.

Having faith in the hunk Captain, Hawkeye spun and fired an arrow at Coachwhip,
who had wrapped one of her whips around Daredevil's neck and was slowly asphyxiating
him.

The stunner arrow struck her in the temple, knocking her out.

"Turning in battle is a fatal mistake!" Diamondback shouted as
she threw a trio of diamonds at Hawkeye.

They were intercepted in mid-flight by Captain Japan's shield. One of the
diamonds was explosive tipped, and the detonation threw the shield far off
course.

Diamondback was about to throw a flame burst diamond at Captain Japan when
she froze. She had seen him on television, of course, but it didn't do him
justice. The man was a serious hunk. And that profile, even through his mask
it was obvious he had bold features.

Then she realized she had made a mistake. Instinctively she leapt out of the
way as an explosive arrow detonated in front of her. Luckily, she had enough
training to ride out the blast, though as she landed she felt her shoulder dislocate.
The fight was over for her. One-armed, she'd be easy prey for Hawkeye. So instead
she threw down two smoke diamonds, camouflaging her as she made an escape. If
she could make it to the hills, she could probably elude any pursuit. The terrain
was rocky, and there were still a handful of her fellow serpents for the heroes
to deal with.

Cottonmouth returned to his feet. While the shield impacting with his jaw had
rattled his brain a bit, it hadn't been incapacitating. His entire skull had
been cybernetically enhanced. By the time he returned to his feet, he had seen
the newcomer's shield blown far away. Better yet, the annoying Captain had his
back to him. One quick bite and it would all be over.

Cottonmouth's jaw dropped tremendously, low enough to engulf Captain Japan's
head. Just as he was about to wrap his mouth around his foe's skull, an energy
blast took him in the body. Lacking any external cybernetic enhancements there,
he was rendered unconscious.

Captain Japan whirled in surprise at the blast. He saw the Wasp hovering
over a foe he had assumed defeated.

"I recovered just in time," Wasp said. "Nice to have you back,
captain."

"Nice to be back," he seconded.

Puff Adder was beating on the Hulk's head. It was easy since the Hulk was
doubled over, completely out of it from the poisoning. By the twentieth blow,
the Hulk's head finally hit the ground. Puff Adder thanked the gods for that.
His fists had gotten sore from hitting the big lunk's skull so many times.
He was going to have to tape them up, maybe dip them in ice or something.

"I knocked out the Hulk!" he shouted as Rattler ran past him.

"We are leaving," Rattler informed him.

Puff Adder said, "Why? I beat the Hulk. I can defeat anyone." He
turned to see the heroes heading toward him. All save Thor. She was lying
on the ground, gasping as Black Mamba ended her attempt to use her darkforce
illusion to break the goddess' back.

Everyone else was unconscious.

"Oops. Gotta run." He barely managed to run up the ramp as it closed
behind him in an emergency take off.

"I shall pursue them," Iron Rose said, though she didn't like some
of the warning lights still flashing on her diagnostics. Some of the power
flow to her boot jets wasn't working right, and she didn't like the idea of
plummeting to the ground in armor that had been under such an incredible strain.

"You don't look so—" Iron Rose's warning fell on deaf ears as Thor
swung her hammer around, building up velocity. The serpent saucer had barely
made it off the ground when she released the hammer, sending it clean through
the craft and bringing it down hard. As the craft hit the rocky terrain, it
collapsed in on itself.

The hammer returned to Thor, who then sifted through the wreckage for a few
minutes before finding the object of her ire. "Thou art fortunate I do
not kill thee for thine perfidy," she informed Black Mamba.

Thor realized the truth of the matter and released the woman. In fact, she
could no longer remember why she had been so enraged. It had something to
do with a woman. But what woman? Someone familiar, but not.

Thor shook her head clear of the thought. Whatever it had been, it was unimportant
compared to more important bit of news. "So, thou hast reconsidered thy
resignation?"

Captain Japan looked his battle worn comrades over. "Yeah. I mean, I
didn't really want to give up anyway. And as I saw you guys taking off, I
remembered that promise we made when we beat the Mandarin. It felt like I
was giving up, and that's something I never do, no matter what. So I hopped
in a Quinjet and set the autopilot to follow you. And here I am, and I wouldn't
rather be anywhere else."

Then he smirked. "Besides, today kind of erased any doubts about staying
on. You guys would have been creamed if it wasn't for me saving the day."

Weakly, Daredevil protested from where he lay on the ground, "Would
have… won anyway."

"Why don't you just lay there and bleed some more?" Iron Rose snapped.

"Now, now," Captain Japan soothed. "He's just jealous since
I kick ass and all he has is the ability to super smell."

"You can leave her out," Hawkeye said, a motion seconded by Iron
Rose and Thor.

Before Captain Japan could complain about their attitude regarding his 'partner',
Wasp suddenly said, "Where's the Hulk?"

"He's right over…" Captain Japan stopped. Where there had been
nearly a thousand pounds of gamma irradiated might, there was now a teenage
boy (with only a slightly pimply complexion rather than an emerald one) who
rubbed his stomach.

Ryouga said, "My stomach feels awful. I feel like throwing up for a
week. Can you guys tell me where I am and why I'm wearing purple pants again?"

Roquat entered his mistress's command center in his usual emotionless manner.
Others would have been worried given the negative nature of the reports he
bore, but emotions were for humans. He simply existed to serve. His mistress's
reaction would be what it would be, and she would say what she would say.
There was no point in worrying about what would be.

He handed her the report, which she pored over with a careful eye. After
several moments, she turned away from it, anger evident in her features. "Damn!
Only an intact Evil Eye would properly power the master mold unit. As it is
now, it can only power one individual unit. A very powerful one, to be certain,
but only one. We still lack a power source to mass produce the units."

"We still have the two prototypes. And a third is being built by the
German branch," Roquat pointed out.

"It's still an unnecessary delay," she said. "I grow weary
of these interfering heroes. Something should be done about them. Something
nasty and permanent."

"Yes, mistress," Roquat said.

She stared at him for a moment. "I'm tired of your current form. Change
into something else. I'm in the mood for something… poetic."

Roquat considered that. Then his form shifted to that of a handsome man,
western European in appearance, with curly blonde hair. He wore a toga trimmed
in gold, which showed off a bold physique.

"Apollo?" the woman asked.

"A depiction of Ozymandias."

"It's a good thing you didn't turn into a pair of trunkless legs of
stone. In any event, having a king of kings as a servant appeals to me. Purchasing
you from AIM was quiet the steal."

"As you say, Mistress."

"I do."

Author's notes: And thus ends Act II of Avenging. Each character was focused
on in a chapter, subplots advanced, and a little bit of humor and such. Next
act should be more focused (at least that is what the outline suggests. Tentative
title for it will be 'All You Need is Hate', but that might change. But there
should be an on going storyline for it. In any case, I hope you enjoyed.